Testing to copy over one of my old reddit comments to see how well it transfers over (with formatting and such)
Sharpening workflow
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Sharpening is generally split into three steps;
Input sharpening
Sharpening for effect
Output sharpening
1. Input Sharpening
Input sharpening is done to compensate for the slight blur introduced by the capture device (camera/scanner). You should optimally do this when processing the raw file in CR/LR.
It will generally be a small radius and low strength (you don't want any halos). Zoom to at least 100% to see what you're doing.
2. Sharpening for Effect
Optional step. This is where you use sharpening creatively to enhance the image. Making important areas "pop" a bit more, or increasing local contrast. You can use Layer Masks to limit the effects to specific areas.
3. Output Sharpening
Output sharpening is done to compensate for the slight blur introduced by the output device and to make the final image appear as sharp and crisp as possible at the final resolution and view distance.
Methods for sharpening in Photoshop
There are several methods you can use for sharpening. There is no clear superior filter/method, and they generally give you very similar results (sometimes identical).
However, the different filters/methods usually have some different options available to you, and some might fit your workflow better than others. So at this point it's mostly down to personal taste and the workflow you use.
Filter: Unsharp Mask
This is the "basic" sharpening filter in Photoshop. Tried and trusted it performs essentially the opposite operation of a Gaussian Blur. It gives you strength/radius sliders, and also a special "Threshold"-slider. By increasing the Threshold slightly you are telling the filter to not sharpen the contrast between nearby pixels if they have very similar values. This will help reduce the sharpening of noise in the picture, and the sharpening will be more focused on edges.
The filter will have to be applied to a flattened/merged copy of your image, or you will have to convert your layers to a Smart Object first.
Filter: Smart Sharpen
A more "intelligent"/modern sharpening filter. If you have CC I would recommend this one (if set to "Lens Blur" it is the most accurate). In addition to the basic radius/strength sliders it also has a "Reduce Noise" slider that serves a similar purpose to the Threshold-slider in Unsharp Mask, but does a better job at it in my opinion.
It also has options for selectively reducing the amount of sharpening in shadow or highlight areas that you can experiment with, although I've yet to really need those options. Usually it's not worth the time to start tweaking that since we're talking very minor differences at this point, but it's there if you need it (e.g. perhaps your shadow areas have a lot of noise and you need to dial back the sharpening).
The filter will have to be applied to a flattened/merged copy of your image, or you will have to convert your layers to a Smart Object first.
Filter: High Pass
This one is often hailed as super-amazing sharpening of the professionals (with no reason given). But in fact it is almost identical to, and sliiightly less accurate, than the basic USM. You are also limited to just a radius slider, and no easy way to limit the effects of noise. So what's the big deal?
I believe the reason why it is so often used (besides "someone told me it was good") is because of the different way you would add this into your layer stack. In other words, it's a workflow issue.
To use High Pass you add a merged copy of your image at the top of the layer stack, set the blending mode to Overlay (or Soft Light, or Linear Light) and run the High Pass filter. Adjust the layer Opacity/Fill to control the strength (allowing you to do this after the filter is applied).
This means that if you want to go back and do some further fine-tuning of your adjustment layers (brightness, color tint, etc.) you can do this on the adjustment layers below without having to redo the sharpening. That can be convenient!
Wrapping all your layers into a Smart Object and applying a regular sharpening filter (USM/SS) to that is theoretically more flexible and non-destructive, but having to open up the Smart Object if you need further adjustments can sometimes be a bit slow compared to just having the sharpening as a layer.
It's up to how you prefer to work. Note that when High Pass first became popular for sharpening, Smart Objects/Smart Filters did not exist, so this is likely a contributor to why it is so wide-spread today.
Hmm, if I make a post to Photoshop, I can see it in my profile as posted to Photoshop, but it's not showing if I go to the actual Magazine? Just the same 3 older posts? Am I misunderstanding something?
Hey, I'll try to handle the abandoned magazines / transfers as quickly as possible. However, I need to automate this process because there are too many requests.
@ernest Hello. After your done with this process, have you considered making a magazine called /m/kbinRequests where people can apply to takeover abandoned magazines? Thank you for your work.
@gorkx I mean they are a pretty popular brand, so it really shouldn't come as a surprise. Also it's generally better for companies to have small stock at high prices to maximize profit then to have an over quantity of products that aren't selling. (I don't study economics so don't take my word on this, just a theory)
Yo #linux. I was thinking of switching to Linux sometime soon, but I have to use #Adobe products for my job. How would you use Adobe software on Linux? Do you use a Windows VM or is there a special program to use Adobe products on Linux? If so, how easy is it to set up?